Sudden loss, the kind that comes like a thief in the night and steals what is most precious to you, is life altering. I don't think that we as humans are ever fully ready to let go of someone but losing them in a brief second without any warning seems to hurt the most. It doesn't allow us to say goodbye. It doesn't allow us to have the conversations that provide comfort for both people. It does not allow us proper closure. We know there is a purpose to everything. We know that God has a plan in all of this tragic loss. It allows us to process but doesn't make it easy. We should grieve and that includes crying and maybe even wailing. But we must also celebrate that person's life because they were a child of God. Every life is important because our Creator gives it. I am reminded by the beautiful prayer that gives us perspective on living a full life but remembering that the ultimate goal is to live eternally with God in Heaven. Lord, teach me not to hold on to life too tightly. Teach me to take it as a gift. To enjoy it, to cherish it while I have it, but to let go gracefully and thankfully when the time comes. The gift is great but the Giver is greater still. You are the Giver and in You is a life that never ends. Amen. God bless the souls of Tim and Madonna Gautreau who tragically lost there lives yesterday.
The twelve apostles chosen by Jesus formed the bedrock of the early Church , and their Catholic identity is deeply rooted in their direct relationship with Christ and the mission He entrusted to them. The Catechism of the Catholic Church highlights this foundational role, stating that Jesus "instituted the Twelve as 'the seeds of the new Israel and the beginning of the sacred hierarchy'" ( CCC 860 ). These men were not simply followers; they were handpicked by Jesus, lived intimately with Him, witnessed His miracles and teachings firsthand, and were specifically commissioned to preach the Gospel to all nations ( Matthew 28:19-20 ). Their unique position as eyewitnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and their reception of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, established them as the authoritative leaders of the nascent Church, a reality echoed in the writings of early Church Fathers like Ignatius of Antioch, who emphasized the apostles' authority as repre...
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